On ‘Meant To Be’ Jayda’s vocals ride ruefully over a warm groove as she laments the fact that though she’s learning so much from her father’s tapes, he cannot be there to deliver the lessons in person. As with previous singles ‘Scars’, ‘Blue Lights’ and ‘Circle Back Around’, she also draws directly on the tapes and her fathers stories contained within, reflecting on her fathers determination to do better for himself and his family, in particular his decision to return to education to train as a social worker in his final years.

The post Jayda G shares new single ‘Meant To Be’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

‘Scars’ — one of the record’s most dancefloor-ready moments — is partly inspired by a story from when her dad was in high school, and was running into issues with one of the local bullies. “This guy would wait outside of his school, to just beat him up for no reason whatsoever, other than that they could,” explains Jayda. “So my dad would try to avoid them, or would wait hours after school ended or leave through different entrances so that it was safe for him to walk home. But these people were just not letting up. Eventually, he realized he had to face them in order to move forward… and he got the shit kicked out of him! But then they left him alone.

“I think of how terrified my dad must have been to stand up to these guys, and by putting myself in his shoes it makes me think about what we all carry with us, as we go through life. What do these kinds of situations mean in terms of how you see yourself, and how you interact with people, how you deal with conflict, how that informs you as you move through life. How if you don’t know your worth and you don’t have self love, this world can really beat you down, especially if you’re a person of color or you look different or sound different, you have to be really strong and have conviction of yourself to move through this world.”

The post Jayda G releases new single/video ‘Scars’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

The new album Guy brings Jayda’s own voice and words more prominently into focus than ever before, across 13 tracks that draw on her House, Disco, RnB and Soul roots while emphasizing her pop songwriting sensibilities, interspersed with archival recordings of her late father, the eponymous William Richard Guy.

“I wanted the album to be a blend of storytelling, about the African American experience, death, grief, and understanding,” explains Jayda. “It’s about my dad and his story, and naturally in part my story, too, but it’s also about so many people who wanted more for themselves and went on a search to find that. This album is just so much for people who have been oppressed and who have not had easy lives.”

Despite the at times somber nature of the source material, the album ultimately proves to be an uplifting and positive experience, both musically and from the message it delivers.

“I think the biggest thing that really drove me to understand more of his life is that my dad, just a few years before he was diagnosed, had worked so hard on himself. He went back to school to become a social worker, examining himself and his own demons, and really working on himself in the process. And I think it’s just a testament that it’s never too late to look at yourself and try to understand why you are the way you are, and strive to be better. Understanding the Black man’s experience, Black people’s experience in terms of America, and rising above what society tells you you’re supposed to be.”

Jayda has also reunited with director David Ehrenreich for several videos that will accompany the album, including on lead single ‘Circle Back Around’. Shot in Jayda’s childhood home and hometown of Grand Forks, British Columbia, it features intimate archival family footage alongside clips of her father, taken from the tapes he recorded.

Guy:

1. Intro
2. Blue Lights
3. Heads Or Tails
4. Scars
5. Interlude: I Got Tired Of Running
6. Lonely Back In O
7. Your Thoughts
8. Interlude: It Was Beautiful
9. Meant To Be
10. Circle Back Around
11. When She Dance
12. Sapphires Of Gold
13. 15 Foot

The post Jayda G announces new album Guy and shares lead single & video ‘Circle Back Around’ appeared first on She Makes Music.